Deloitte forecasts a global shift in talent management from company-focused to broader networks

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New York, NY, 16 August 2013 — Global companies are seeing a dramatic shift away from the classical employment model of hiring full-time employees to work a typical 9 to 5 hour shift to a new collaborative, transparent, technology-enabled approach. This “open talent economy” approach is outlined in The Open Talent Economy report launched today by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL).

Jeff Schwartz, Global Leader for Marketing, Eminence, and Brand Human Capital, DTTL says: “We are seeing some significant changes taking place in the talent arena. The challenge for many business, talent, and human resources leaders is that they are operating as if the classical model of talent is still dominant and relevant. It’s not. Global business leaders will need to rethink their approach to talent beyond the balance sheet (talent employed directly by a company), and focus on talent in joint ventures, contracting relationships, freelance workers, and a new category: open source talent. Access to talent in many ways will become as important as acquiring and maintaining it.”

The Open Talent Economy report outlines five core processes which are forecasted to become the start of a new framework for planning and managing talent across the open talent economy:

From plan and acquire to design, brand, attract, and access— The open source economy will present new challenges to workforce planning. The historical model was focused on filling capability requirements by hiring people, full or part time, to work for the company as employees, with the accompanying expectations of an organizational livelihood and career. In contrast, the emerging challenge is to plan and design work for, and to access, workforces of all types – on the balance sheet, in joint ventures, in contract and outsourced relationships, freelancers, and open source.

From training and deployment to participation, learning, and leadership networks— In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, companies are recognizing the value of moving from command-and-control training and deployment approaches to new models built around projects and networks. In a world of continually changing project portfolios, the demand moves from outfitting and deploying employees to creating learning, leadership, and work networks that become the backbone of work structure and employee development.

From performance management to performance engagement— Companies will need to develop new measures, new processes, and new expectations for what success looks like on all sides of the employer-worker relationship. As the workforce extends to third-party organizations, individuals, and the human cloud of ideas and effort; performance management will face the challenge of evolving to measure engagement, development, quality, interest, access, and output.

From compensation and benefits to experience and rewards— The historical focus of total rewards programs has been on grading and sorting employees into bands while designing compensation structures and benefits schemes that generally prioritize health and retirement benefits. There are at least two emerging challenges for total rewards programs in the open talent economy. The first is to keep pace with the rapidly changing expectations of full-time employees across all the generations in the workforce, from veterans and boomers to millennials.The second challenge for total rewards is to begin the complex process of creating rewards, meaning, and careers for employees who are not on a company’s balance sheet.

From company employee value proposition to ecosystem talent brand— As companies deliberately design and build talent networks that incorporate on-and off-balance-sheet workers, freelance workers, and open source talent, the corporate brand and employee value proposition will need to be reengineered with an eye to attracting and engaging multiple sources of talent.

Lisa Barry, Global Service Line Leader for Talent, Performance & Rewards, DTTL, comments: “These five reimagined talent processes will help organizations to engage and leverage people across the open talent ecosystem. However, there are other important conditions for success that we are encouraging our clients to plan for such as: understanding requisite infrastructure changes, risks, global tax implications, strategic alliances, and entirely new governance arrangements.”

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.

Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges. Deloitte has in the region of 200,000 professionals, all committed to becoming the standard of excellence.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.